Conductive composites metal particle

The defects caused by the high contact resistance especially manifest themselves in the metal-filled composites where the value of the percolation threshold may reach 0.5 to 0.6 [30]. This is caused by the oxidation of the metal particles in the process of CPCM manufacture. For this reason, only noble metals Ag and Au, and, to a lesser extent, Ni are suitable for the use as fillers for highly conductive cements used in the production of radioelectronic equipment [32]. 

Willner and coworkers demonstrated three-dimensional networks of Au, Ag, and mixed composites of Au and Ag nanoparticles assembled on a conductive (indium-doped tin oxide) glass support by stepwise LbL assembly with A,A -bis(2-aminoethyl)-4,4 -bipyridinium as a redox-active cross-linker.8 37 The electrostatic attraction between the amino-bifunctional cross-linker and the citrate-protected metal particles led to the assembly of a multilayered composite nanoparticle network. The surface coverage of the metal nanoparticles and bipyridinium units associated with the Au nanoparticle assembly increased almost linearly upon the formation of the three-dimensional (3D) network. A coulometric analysis indicated an electroactive 3D nanoparticle array, implying that electron transport through the nanoparticles is feasible. A similar multilayered nanoparticle network was later used in a study on a sensor application by using bis-bipyridinium cyclophane as a cross-linker for Au nanoparticles and as a molecular receptor for rr-donor substrates.8... 

Composites containing metal particles provide a clear example of the percolation behaviour described in Section 8.3. By way of illustration we can cite the results shown in Table 8.1 for a dispersion of approximately spherical nickel particles (about 10 pm in diameter) in a low-density polyethylene. Here conductivity is lost entirely at concentrations below about 20% by volume of metal, corresponding to about 70% by mass. Nevertheless, conductive paints, which are frequently used for painting electrodes on to electrical test specimens and devices, work in just this way. 

Composites based on silver powder can be made with conductivities as high as 10 6fl 1m 1 at a loading of 85% by mass, when the insulating matrix, which may be an epoxy resin, serves essentially as a glue to hold the metal powder in position without altogether disrupting the metal-metal particle contacts. 

Composites with filler concentrations close to the percolation threshold exhibit conductivity which is sensitive to compressive deformation, since this brings the metal particles into contact, thereby forming percolation pathways. This sensitivity has been exploited especially in anisotropic composites. These are made by prealigning the metal particles with either electric or magnetic fields. This alignment is identical with that produced by external fields in electro- and magneto-rheological fluids where at a critical field continuous threads of... 

Another approach to deposit conducting polymers can be achieved by photochemical polymerization of the monomer precursors. This procedure provides a means by which different composites (metals and/or various alloy materials with or without biomolecules) can be deposited from an electrolyte onto a non-conducting surface. Such a procedure was optimized and applied for polymerization of pyrrole in the presence of metal nanoparticles [61]. Photopolymerized films containing metals analyzed by environmental scanning electron microscopy (SEM) appeared to be typical of amorphous polypyrrole in which bright Ag particles were found on the surface (Fig. 7.6). 

Among the specific characterizations needed for such modified conducting polymers, the determination of the metallic loading and of the atomic composition of the metallic particles inserted in the organic matrix are essential. 

Other conducting polymers can be investigated as supports for dispersing catalytic metallic particles. Shan and Pickup [21] used a composite of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) and poly(styrene-4-sulfonate) (PEDOT/PSS) to disperse Pt particles. They compared the performances of such electrodes with carbon-supported Pt for the electroreduction of oxygen, and they found similar exchange... 

Nanocrystalline materials comprising sub-100 / metal particles, when compressed to 50% of their bulk density, show properties (specific heat, thermal conductivity, saturation magnetization and critical temperature for superconductivity) provocatively different from those of their crystalline or glassy counterparts.(48) It is well known that the interfaces of mechanically reduced composites are effective in interacting with dislocations and with flux lines in superconducting composites. Precursor materials for the preparation of ultrafine filamentary composites can also be imagined. Here the combinations of interphasial boundaries and dislocations can... 

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